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| Mrs. D's Dynomite Class |
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Kindergarten |
These are skills that your child will be expected to master exiting Kindergarten. The sooner you start practicing, the more prepared your child will be.
In Reading your child will be asked to: recite the alphabet, identify upper and lowercase letters, recognize and say the sounds for each letter, identify rhyming patterns, read high-frequency words (these include: a, am, an, and, at, can, do, go, he, I, in, is, it, like, me, my, no, see, so, the, to, up, we), and sequence a story.
In Writing/Fine Motor your child will be asked to: hold a pencil correctly, use scissors, glue, and crayons with control, write upper and lower case letters correctly, write numbers 0-20, read and write his or her first and last name.
In Math your child will be asked to: identify basic shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, oval, and diamond), count, sort objects by attributes (color, shape, size), recognize numbers 0-20, identify, continue, and create patterns, describe an objects position, recite the days of the week, read a graph, compare objects, measure objects, identify coins and their values, and begin adding and subtracting.
The best ways to practice these skills are to use music, games, and any hands on materials. During the school year, Kindergarten parents are invited to come to a literacy night. There you will be taught a variety of games and activities to help develop your child’s literacy skills. Good luck and have fun!
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First Grade |
In First Grade we spend the beginning of the year practicing our letter sounds. Students will also be asked to identify beginning and ending sounds in words. Students will practice writing each letter correctly, capital and lowercase, on the appropriate lines. Students will continue reading high frequency first grade words. Students will also begin reading grade level books and will need to demonstrate fluency decoding of words. By the end of the year students will be taking spelling tests demonstrating their knowledge of high frequency words.
In Writing, students will begin the year practicing their letter formation. Then we teach how to write on appropriate lines with correct spacing. Students will learn how to write words by sounding each letter out and then they will write a basic sentence. These sentences must include a capital at the beginning and punctuation at the end. It is important that kids journal throughout the school year. This offers them the opportunity to express themselves through words and illustrations. By the end of their first grade year students will be writing paragraphs at least four sentences long.
In Math, we begin the year identifying numbers and writing numbers correctly on the appropriate lines. By the end of the year students will have to demonstrate accuracy showing place value, comparing numbers, identifying and counting coins, adding, subtracting, reading and writing counting forwards and backwards numbers to 100, making and describing patterns, and measuring. Students also have to know how to count by 2's, 3's, 5's, and 10's.
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Second Grade |
During our Second Grade year students will identify rhyming words, spell multi-syllable words by sight, identify words as having short or long vowels, read high frequency sight words, and read text fluently. Students will be asked to use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words and will learn how to use resource materials like a dictionary or thesaurus to help. Students will also identify synonyms and antonyms, homographs, compound words, prefixes, and root words. Students will also need to demonstrate comprehension after reading by answering literal, informational, and evaluative questions. They will also need to use a variety of graphic organizers. See reminders section at the bottom of the sight to help.
In Writing, second graders will be asked to write a paragraph. This paragraph will begin as four sentences and grow to at least eight. Students will also use graphic organizers as prewriting activities. By the third quarter students will begin being taught how to write in cursive. Students must remember to check their work especially writing before turning in. Many times the sentences will not make sense, rereading answers is not just a good habit, but it helps catch these mistakes.
In Math, students will begin taking addition and subtraction timed tests. Students will also need to demonstrate place value, identify even odd numbers, count money, make change, tell time to the nearest 5 minutes, measure, and solve and create number stories. Students will also need to identify, describe, and compare a variety of shapes including two and three-dimensional objects. It is very important to practice math facts and counting money at home.
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Third Grade |
We begin third grade by reviewing skills from second grade. Students will prepare to take the reading achievement test that occurs twice during the school year. We will teach the students testing skills and how to locate important information in a reading selection. Students must know what synonyms and antonyms are and how to use context clues to decode unknown words. Students need to identify rhyming patterns and word families, contractions, compound words, prefixes and suffixes, and root words. They will also be asked to distinguish between homophones, homonyms, and homographs. Students will need to compare and contrast information, summarize text, make inferences, use graphic organizers. They will continue to develop their second grade skill of answering literal, inferential, and evaluative questions.
In Writing, students will be asked to demonstrate the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising and editing, and publishing. The students will continue to practice cursive writing and be asked to write cursive the third and fourth nine weeks.
In Math, students will be asked to demonstrate place value, equivalent numbers, compare numbers, count money and make change, decimal and fractions concepts and notation, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, number stories, measurement, and tell time to the nearest minute. Students will also know how to collect data, create graphs, and describe the data found using terms like mean, median, and mode. It can not be emphasized more strongly the importance of practicing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts with your child. These basic skills can be difficult to retain and that can make grades four through six very difficult.
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Homework Tips |
1.) Make sure your child has a quiet, well-lit place to do homework.
2.) Make sure the materials your child needs, such as paper, pencils and a dictionary, are available.
3.) Help your child with time management.
4.) Be positive about homework.
5.) When your child asks for help, provide guidance, not answers.
6.) Help your child figure out what is hard homework and what is easy homework.
7.) Watch your child for signs of failure and frustration.
8.) Reward progress in homework.
*** A good rule of thumb is that homework should take 10 per grade level. Therefore, if your child is in second grade homework should take 20 minutes. If homework takes more time, contact the teacher and let him or her know the times and if there is a type of homework that takes more time/frustration than others. *** |
Reminders |
Please don't forget to work on flash cards, word rings, or spelling homework every night.
Read as much as you can with your child. When reading it is important to ask your child questions. Before Reading- What is the title of the story? Who is the author and illustrator? Have your child make predictions on what he or she thinks might happen by looking at the pictures.
After Reading- Who was the main character of the story? What is the setting of the story or where did it take place? What happened in the beginning, middle, and end? What was your favorite part and why?
These questions will help build your child’s reading comprehension.
Keep reading your AR books! Three a week and you get a prize! |
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Ellis Elementary School
